When Should I Take the SAT or ACT?

Standardized tests are an important—and stressful—part of your application, and trying to figure out when is the right time to take them may be confusing. So just when should you sit for the SAT or ACT? It is important to remember that the age-old adage â€Å"the earlier the better† doesn’t necessarily apply here. The older you are when you take the SAT or ACT, the better you are likely to perform on the test. So, you probably won’t achieve your best possible score if you take it as a freshman. However, you are technically allowed to take take the tests as early as you want. Doing so may give you a starting point to find out the areas in which you can improve. Starting early also enables you to retake the test, although given that the the SAT is administered around seven times per year and the ACT is given around six times per year, you should have ample opportunity to do so even if you take it later on, as long as you don’t wait until the last possible sitting. It is also worth keeping in mind that you generally shouldn’t take the SAT or ACT more than three times , because you are unlikely to improve your score substantially after the second time, and admissions officers tend not to like seeing students take the tests too many times. If you are applying Early Decision, plan on taking standardized tests no later than the October or November administration deadlines your senior year of high school. This year, those dates are November 5 th for the SAT (register by October 7 th ) and October 22 nd for the ACT (for which registration has closed). If you are applying Regular Decision, your deadline is likely December or January. The 2016-2017 admission cycle, those dates are January 21, 2017 for the SAT (register by December 21 st ) and December 10 th for the ACT (register by November 4 th ). NB: There are late deadlines as well, but you will have to pay a late fee if you don’t register by the initial deadlines. Be sure to check the policies regarding standardized test deadlines of the schools to which you are applying. Some colleges may prefer that you complete all testing prior to submitting your application. There are many disadvantages to waiting until the the last possible minute to take the SAT or ACT. First, you may have to pay additional fees to rush your scores to the colleges on your list if you wait too late. As mentioned above, there are fees associated with waiting too late to register as well. Additionally, if you take the test during the final possible administration for your purposes, you won’t be able to retake it. That means you are stuck with whatever score you receive, when you could have potentially performed better if you took the test a second time—in fact, many students (though not all) do receive higher scores in their second go-around , due to a decrease in stress, better preparation, or more familiarity with the test. Our students see an average increase of 250 points on their SAT scores. Another important decision to make is when you should take the Preliminary SAT (PSAT). You are not required to take the PSAT as part of your college admissions process, but many students choose to do so any way, since it offers you a good way to practice for the SAT and discover where you should focus your improvement efforts. Additionally, the PSAT also functions as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT) , meaning your scores will be used to determine if you are a National Merit finalist. You may take the PSAT earlier, but only the scores you receive on the PSAT you take your junior year may qualify you for a National Merit award. Some students choose to take the test in their sophomore year for additional practice as well as their junior year. Another advantage to taking the PSAT is that when you take it, as well as the SAT or any AP test, you have the option of opting into College Board’s Student Search Service , which shares your contact information with schools at which your academic profile is similar to that of their typical applicants. If you participate, colleges will contact you with important information, which can help with your college search and honing your final list. The PSAT is administered by your high school once a year. This year, your high school may choose among the following dates: College Board’s recommendation is the primary date. If you want to take the PSAT, you must do it on the date your high school designates. While you can usually take standardized tests as early as you would like, we at recommend that you take the PSAT in the fall of your junior year and the SAT or ACT at its first administration in the spring of your junior year. Doing so allows enough time to retake the test as many times as you need or want to, and ensures that you have reached your maximum (or near-maximum) potential score because you are older and have been in school longer than you were as a freshman or sophomore. Taking the test too early is not necessary and can cause unnecessary stress.

Deer Valley Lodge Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Deer Valley Lodge - Research Paper Example In making a decision of an investment, value of NPV is critical in deciding if an investment is good or not. A positive value means that an investment is good, but a negative value means that the investment is not worth it. In this case, the value is positive; therefore, I would advise the management to go ahead and invest in the project (Megginson et al. 252). The net income from the investment annually is $560,000. The tax rate on income is 40% leaving us with 60%. 40% of $560,000 is $224,000, meaning that the after-tax net income is $336,000. The rate of return due to taxation consideration is expected to drop down to 8%, therefore, the MACRS recovery period is 10 years in order to save on tax costs. The new NPV will mean $336,000 is multiplied by the factor 9.818. This will with NPV of $3,298,848. Here, there is a new twist as the investment is to be depreciated within 10 years. Some money will be saved on taxes by this move. To find the tax savings, the initial investment ($3,300,000) is multiplied by the tax rate to get $1,320,000. The tax savings are then multiplied by the 8% discount rate for ten years resulting in $931,788, tax savings NPV. $931,788 is then added to $3,298,848 to get $4,230,636. Compared to the $3,300,000, the initial investment we get a resulting figure of $930,636. This is a very big investment as it earns bette r results than the first scenario with the kind of returns it gives. The scenarios painted in the two parts above are just estimates on paper that are hoped will be the case. The figures are assumed that they will remain consistent, but in reality many things could change that might affect the envisioned income streams from the investment. Deer Valley is a resort that depends on the choice of tourists to flock and use the facilities. Many factors can change the situation including weather conditions like heavy rainfall, delayed snowfall which will come at the supposed peak season or any other natural calamity/disaster

Human Personality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Personality - Essay Example This theory of specificity has its roots deep in the experimental tradition, and its priori improbability should not prevent us from glancing at the main sources from which it draws its strength. The first of these sources is the Thorndikian type of learning theory prevalent around the first decades of this century. Learning is conceived in terms of S-R (stimulus-response) bonds after the manner of the reflex or the conditioned reflex, and these bonds are, of course, conceived to be entirely specific. If the organization of personality is mainly a matter of learning and here the huge preponderance of writers have favoured an anti-hereditarianism sight, without though basing themselves on any persuasive experimental evidence then the specificity of the learning procedure ought to be mirrored in the last product of learning, i.e. the mature personality. And as S-R theories in the field of learning have been confront by S-S theories which uphold that learning is part of a better difficu lty of organization, chiefly perceptual organization, these non-specific theories came into the field additional lately, have been somewhat less important historically, and have not carried over into the field of personality account to the similar extent as the specificity theories. Genius Human perfectibility" has been the theme of many enthusiasts; and many utopian schemes of society have been and still are suggested, which postulate in the men and women of the future an increase in moral and physical health and vigour. And it is plain that in a broad and general way natural selection, sexual selection, and the advance of science are working together towards improvements of these kinds. But it is plain also that these onward tendencies, at least in comparison with our desires and ideals, are slow and uncertain; and it is possible to argue that the apparent advance in our race is due merely to the improvement which science has effected in its material environment, and not to any real development, during the historical period, in the character or faculties of man himself. Sleep Regarding sleep as an alternating phase of personality, we must consider what are its special characteristics and faculties. Regarding it as an integral factor in our earthly existence, and on an equal footing with the waking state, we must consider how the faculties of sleep, as of waking, can be enhanced and intense in the course of the bodily and psychical development of man. Such development or concentration, though, presupposes a understanding of the true nature of sleep which we are by no means at liberty to take for granted. Disintegrations Of Personality Many disturbances and disintegrations of the personality must presently fall to be described. But the reader who may follow me must remember the point of view from which I am writing. The aim of my study is not to destroy but to complete; or say, rather, my hope is that observation of the ways in which